"Easy Jen. Let me check you over," scolded Alex, pushing her back down on the couch. "Follow my finger." He waved his finger back and forth, up and down. He watched as her eyes blinked, seemed dizzy and tired. He sighed heavily. "You're showing signs of having a concussion."
"Well at least she's safe now, that's what's important," commented Hayley.
"Well, this wouldn't have happened, if you two had been doing your job!" yelled Alex, turning around, looking at both Hayley and Eric angrily. He wasn't sure why he was yelling. Deep down he knew Eric and Hayley didn't mean for this to happen. Maybe it was his fear of coming close to losing Jen by Hexasaur's hands that was talking. "You both are just lucky that Trent and I got to Jen in time. Who knows what would have happened?"
Was it their fault? Did they not try hard enough to keep Jen from leaving the house? Hayley began to feel a great pang of guilt. She looked at Jen and saw she was in rough shape, probably had a bad headache. At moments she didn't seem all there. "I-I…"
Eric could feel his anger burning up inside. How dare he try to pin this on them? "Hey, if you're going to yell at anyone, yell at me, but leave Hayley out of it!" yelled Eric. He didn't have a problem with Alex getting mad at him, but he did have a problem if Alex tried to put any guilt on Hayley.
"Oh, so you're the idiot that let Jen go off on her own… Figures, you do seem to have a tendency to let this sort of thing happen," replied Alex harshly. He didn't even know what he was saying. He was losing all control of himself and his emotions.
Eric could feel his fist clenching. He had had just about enough of Alex's altitude, blaming everyone but himself. And just like that, Eric snapped and was about to attack Alex, until Hayley's arms grabbed a hold of him, pulling him back.
"Eric! Get a hold of yourself!" she yelled as she struggled to pull him back; even though they were close in height, he was stronger. "He's not worth it!" For what seemed like eternity Alex and Eric were both giving each other death glares. The tension between the two had grown. Hayley slowly felt Eric settle down. She slowly released him.
Without a word Eric left the room and stormed outside. Hayley started to go after him. "He better change his attitude or this whole mission will be a failure," she heard Alex call out.
She stopped and turned. "You're talking about his attitude. Take a good look in the mirror, Alex. And the next time you go blaming someone, think over your own actions!" And with that said, Hayley took off after Eric.
Look in the mirror? Is she saying this is my fault? I wasn't the one who let Jen take off on her own. Alex turned back to Jen, who was holding her head, trying to get rid of her headache and the pain. "Here, let me help." He started moving his hands towards her head, to massage it.
"Alex, don't!" She pushed his arms away. "Just please, leave me alone," she replied harshly.
"Leaving you alone seems to do more harm than good for you lately," he replied back.
She was started to get sick and tired of him hovering over her like a lost puppy, always having to protect her. "I'm not a child, Alex. I can take care of myself." She squinted her eyes as she felt a pang of pain in her head.
"You sure about that? Taking off on your own, going into battles blindly, letting your emotions get in the way of things..." Alex threw up his arms. "Hexasaur almost killed you today, Jen!" He glared her right in the eyes. "Do you want to end up like Wes? Because the way you have been acting lately, you're starting to fall right onto the path that got him killed."
Jen looked him right in the eyes, angrily. How dare he bring Wes into this! "Look who's talking. For the past couple of days, you've been picking battles with just about everyone. Well let me tell you something. I won't be the next one!" Jen stood up and started to walk away from him, but felt a wave of dizziness start to take her over. She was just about to fall, when Trent arrived in the living room and caught her just in time.
"Wooh. You okay?"
"Jen, are you alright?" Alex rushed over to Jen, filled with concern. But again she just pushed him away.
"Alex. Please…just leave me alone right now," she replied, softer this time.
Alex looked hurt and confused. What am I doing wrong? He had tried everything he could think of to help her, talking to her, being there for her, but no matter what he did, it was never good enough. Was there something he was missing, something he wasn't seeing?
"Don't worry. I'll take care of her," said Trent kindly. He could sense the tension between the two and could see they needed some time apart.
Alex didn't say anything. He just stood there and watched as Trent helped her up, and helped her walk out of the living room, leaving him behind. What's wrong with me? No matter what I try to do, it's never right. Was it because of today they came close to losing Jen? Did it have to do with Hexasaur and the disagreement he and Tommy had? Was it everything combined? Alex sighed heavily, looking back on his past. He'd had this problem once before, three years ago, when he had taken Wes's place. He argued with just about everyone, pushing them to their limit, treating everyone around him, including Jen, like they were nothing but robots who he'd barked orders to.
Was that it? He turned around and faced the mirror behind him and looked himself right in the eyes. He could see a grown young man, tired, hard, and a distant coldness that lurked in his eyes.
For as long as he could remember he had always worked the job on his own, except for those couple of times he had been teamed up with Jen, but other than that it always had been just him. He had always done things his way, in his own time, on his own. He never had to worry about thing like teamwork.
He had forgotten what it was like to be a team player, or maybe he had never known what it meant to be part of a team. His eyes then fell onto an old photograph; it was of Wes, a small child of ten or so. "You made it look so easy. I guess the others were right; you were the right man for the job. I'm just sorry I never took the time to notice."
Hayley found Eric out back beating the crap out of the punching bag. "You know if you punch that thing any harder, it's going to take a lot more than duct tape to put it back together."
He punched the bag again and again. "Sometimes I just want to take the guy by the neck and give him a piece of my mind!" Frustrated, Eric took another smack at the bag, punching it non-stop, just over and over.
"Hey, don't let him get to you."
Angry and upset, out of control, Eric continued to take all of his frustration out on the old punching bag. Every punch was harder then the last. He could feel his anger burning up, hearing Alex's words repeat over and over in his mind, making sound as if everything that had happened, with Wes and now Jen, was his fault.
"Eric, stop before you hurt yourself!" yelled Hayley.
Punch! Punch! It only took one good hard punch and the chain broke off, dropping the beaten up bag of sand. Exhausted, Eric dropped to the ground, his knuckles bloody and wet. His heart was racing, pounding against his chest.
Hayley walked up behind him, knelt down and wrapped her arms around him. She could feel the tension and frustration in his tense muscles. For the next few minutes they just stayed there, in the same position, not moving or saying anything, just letting time pass them by. "Come on; let's go wrap your hands up."
He nodded his head as they slowly got to their feet. Eric turned to her and gave her a brief smile, as his way of thanking her. "I really hate that guy."
She returned the smile, taking him by the arm. "We can go back to my place." Hayley thought that it might be best to give Alex and Eric some time apart.
It was nearly dark out, as Zeltrax walked around a place he hadn't seen in a long time, although it looked much different now. The rocky ground for the most part had been dug up and chipped away, and the fossils that had once been there were gone. The tents, computers, and digging tools were all gone and the familiar faces of those he had once called friends were now gone. It all seemed so long ago, like it had happened hundreds of years ago.
Everyone was long gone now, not that it would matter, and no one would recognize him. Not that he cared, as far as he was concerned, he could care less if he ever saw any of them ever again. But…there was one he wished to see, but he was beginning to forget the sound of her voice, what she looked like, and who she was and why he continued to hold onto her memory.
"Who was she?" All he could see in his mind was a flash of her face. He couldn't even put a name to her face. He didn't understand why every time her thought of her, he got sad and lonely.
He continued to walk around, hoping to find something, something that would help him remember who she was. But there was nothing, only rocks, trees and plants. Anything that could have helped him was gone, just like his past.
Zeltrax walked over to the edge of a cliff. A very familiar cliff, the cliff that had changed his life forever, thanks to one person. The one person he would one day kill and make pay for the nightmare he had been living. Looking down, he sees a flash of him and Tommy, hanging on, then everything gets blurry and hazy. He then sees himself, Smitty, falling, screaming for his dear life. Zeltrax gripped his hand around his sword, feeling his anger burn inside.
"Very soon, Tommy, once you think you have won. Once you have your guard down. I will come for you and then you will pay for taking everything away from me."
How long had he been standing outside of here? An hour? Two hours? He didn't know. Trent had left a while ago. Alex sighed heavily. For the past few hours he'd had a lot to think about. He thought about the past few days. He though about what had happened the past few years. Everything. Gathering his courage, he knocked on her bedroom door.
"Come in."
Alex walked in and found Jen on the bed, sitting up with the computer on her lap. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Better. A little tired." She bit her lip. She knew she had been a little too hard on Alex. All he was doing was trying to be there for her, in the only way he knew how. "Thanks for asking."
He nodded his head, silently. And for the first time he felt uncomfortable around her. He was afraid he might say the wrong thing or do something too soon or even do something he shouldn't. "I'm sorry-"
"I'm sorry-"
They both stopped and looked each other in the eyes. Maybe they both had been wrong, or maybe they had been right. They weren't sure. Things were so messed up now and nothing was the same.
"You go first."
Alex nodded his head, sighing. This was hard for him. Hard to admit things weren't the same between them. "I wanted to tell you I'm sorry, for everything. What I've said, and not letting you do things on your own. I guess sometimes I forget you're not that young girl I trained so long ago. I just want you to know you've grown into a fine officer. One I'm proud to work with."
"Thanks. That means a lot," Jen sighed. "But just because I don't always need your help, doesn't mean that someday I won't need it. You're a big part of my life, Alex. You believed in me when no one else would, not even myself. I don't know where I would be today if it hadn't been for you." She bowed her head, sighing. "And just because we're not engaged any more, doesn't mean I don't want you to be a part of my life. I still need you, Alex, just not in the way it was before."
He smiled lightly at her. "I guess I can try to start being there for you as a friend, instead of an old boyfriend. I just might need some help."
She knew this was hard for him, to let go, he had been holding onto her for so long, hoping that one day she would run back into his arms, and they would be together forever. "I'm sure, together, we can figure it out."
"Sounds like a plan."